Related Articles

"I had a 3,000 majority last night, I think that’s a good solid platform to campaign for the general election, and I’ve got five months to prove myself as a Ukip MP, just as I used the previous four and half years to prove myself as an MP for Rochester and Strood. And I’ll be fighting that general election to win," he said.

On BBC PM, Michael Gove is challenged on says David Cameron is the "outstanding figure of our age," and the question central It's rare to hear such effusive praise these days. He says he has a "a quality of leadership that nobody else can bring to bear".

He says he is "pretty certain" that there will be no more defections, but does not want to play games of "snakes and ladders" or "hunt the snark".

Gove says he has no plans to hang a British flag from his window, but says his son does.

16.30 Gove admits: Boris was told not to campaign in Rochester

He's Cameron's "star player" who is never off the pitch. Yet Boris was strangely absent from the Rochester campaign. Chief Whip Gove confirms it was over his love of the Thames Estuary Airport, which would have sent planes over the constituency (it would also have brought jobs and money, but never mind that - this is a by-election!)

He said it would have turned the contest into a "historic wrangle" over a project that is in "deep freeze".

"We thought it was better for Boris not be there because of that particular issue. He was doing a lot of fantastic work campaigning elsewhere in the country."

"Boris is an asset wherever he is, he wouldn't have been a liability," said Gove. "It was politely suggested to him that his formidable energies should be directed elsewhere."

"On almost every occasion I've asked Boris to help the Conservative Party I haven't even had to finish the sentence, he's been anxious and enthusiastic about doing whatever he could."

16.10 Who said this?

"There was a poll out yesterday from YouGov asking ‘if you thought they could win, who would you vote for?’ 26% of people voted [for us] and I think that’s based on our ideas and is growing and being seen all the time as it was in Rochester.

"I think people are really reached the point where they’re thoroughly fed up with holding their nose and voting for a party that they dislike the second more to stop the people they really hate getting in. People are saying we’ve seen what kind of politics we get from that, that’s the politics we have now, where you can barely get a cigarette paper between the two largest parties. The rhetoric might sound a bit different, the policies are the same.

"Look at Rachel Reeves saying we’ll be tougher on welfare than the Tories, look at Labour promising the same kind of austerity spending approach as the Tories. We’ve seen voting tactically doesn’t work, we’ve seen that being charitable the two and a half party system has broken down and so if I vote for what I believe in maybe I can get something different and more and more people want to do that."

Not Nigel Farage or Mark Reckless, but Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green Party. They overtook the Liberal Democrats with 4.22 per cent.

Labour are worried about the Greens chewing at their vote, like Ukip ate the Tories. And senior Lib Dems are terrified.

15.50 Emily Thornberry has come under from her own constituents in one of Islington's estates, reports the Press Association.

Gillian Higham, 53, who lives on the Finsbury estate, near Angel in north London, said that Mrs Thornberry should not have sent the tweet.

"I'm not racist - I have mixed-race grandchildren. We're multi-cultural and I agree with that. But we should have a right to put flags up for our own country, support our own country.

"I think she's been very silly because of her position."

Vincent Hole, 46, who lives in President House in nearby Clerkenwell, said that the community regularly hangs England flags out in one of the local squares. Today just one flat displayed the flag - a set of bunting hanging from a window.

Mr Hole, who runs a box office in Piccadilly Circus and has lived in the area all his life, said: "It should be allowed. It's OK on occasions like when it's St George's Day and times like that. She's all right, Emily. She does what she needs to do, but she could do a little bit more."

Lynette-Anne Watt, 26, who also lives on the Finsbury estate, said that she would not hang a St George's cross outside her own home because her children, who are aged five and seven, are black.

There was, however, one large St George's Cross flag hanging from a balcony on her block.

When shown Thornberry's tweet, she said: "I don't think that looks very appealing, things hanging out your window and a big truck in front of the road. It makes it look a bit daunting.

"It does have that connotation of racism. I understand where she's coming from."

She said Thornberry had helped her with problems in her flat. "I had an old boiler, an old gas fire heater in my living room and it was giving us carbon monoxide into the room.

"I was in there for five years and couldn't get anything done myself, and I went to her, just one day, and within the next week everything was done."

15.40 Do read James Kirkup: Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair's victories were based on winning the working-class vote. How have both of their parties lost it since then? It has charts.

How seriously is the British political system now taking working class voters and their worries? There can be few more eloquent illustrations than events in Rochester this week. Emily Thornberry took a picture of White Van Man’s house. Mark Reckless of Ukip suggested that Europeans living and working in the UK might be expelled from the UK. Miss Thornberry lost her job. Mr Reckless won re-election.

15.00 David Cameron is a lucky general. Weeks ago cabinet ministers were briefing that if they lost, the PM would be for the chop. Many expected the airwaves to be filled with critics such as Bernard Jenkin this morning. Remarks from euro-hating rebel Andrew Bridgen are indicative of the mood in the party: i.e. calm and square behind the leader.

"I came into politics to stop the socialists getting into government, wrecking the economy and creating more poor people, and also I’m quite keen for us to have a brighter future outside the European Union. Ukip don’t really help on either of those topics. They’re very naive on their views on how we would get out of Europe. By voting Ukip you’re splitting the right of centre Eurosceptic vote," he said.

Bill Cash, chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee who has dedicated his career to fighting Brussels, says Reckless will lose his seat in 2015.

"The arguments that Ukip put forward for a referendum, which I’ve campaigned for since the Maastricht Treaty, and which Mark Reckless has supported all the way down the line, it will simply not take place if Ukip deprive us of majorities in the marginal seats and we don’t get an overall majority. So Ukip is really very self-defeating. And not only that, you get more Europe as a result as well because the Labour Party want more of an integrationist policy. By contrast, however, unemployment is plummeting, all over the whole of the United Kingdom, and in addition to that, under this government, and it would be more so if we were to get an overall majority for the Conservatives next time."

14.50 Mark Reckless has received a pasting in the Commons from Labour veteran Dennis Skinner.

In a debate on the NHS in the Commons, Mr Skinner said that he had had a "United Nations heart bypass" carried out by a Syrian cardiologist, a Malaysian surgeon, a Dutch doctor and a Nigerian registrar.

"These two people here talk about sending them back from whence they came. If they did that in the hospitals in London, half of London would be dead in six months. That's the facts about Ukip," he said, to raucous cheers from the Labour benches.

14.45 More Labour reaction to flag row

Ian Austin, the shadow work and pensions minister, says:

"Lots of people around the country suspect the country is run or politics is run by an out-of-touch metropolitan elite that doesn’t understand anything about their lives, doesn’t understand the pressure they’re under, doesn’t care about their concerns, and sneers at them. What she did was unbelievably unhelpful.

"I don’t see what is remarkable about hard-working people driving white vans. There’s lots of people like that in Dudley. I don’t see what is remarkable about flying your flag for your country. I mean I do that. It gave the impression that people like her are sneering at ordinary people."

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader, adds: "The perception that’s been created is an unfortunate one."

"It goes right against Ed Miliband’s concern that we are a One Nation Labour party. Actually, it created, in avertedly, no doubt, a misperception about what the Labour party stands for. We’ve also got councillors and MPs from all sorts of backgrounds and different sorts of regions, and that’s the nature of the Labour party, we must make sure we convey that strongly."

She said the party's performance, taking 16 per cent, was "disappointing".

14.40 Sky reports that Philip Hollobone, the Tory rebel who introduced old mate Mark Reckless to Parliament today, voted with the Ukip duo AGAINST the government in Labour's anti-privatisation NHS Bill. What is he up to?

14.35 White Van Man Dan Ware has been driven to Emily Thornberry's house by The Sun to demand an apology. Sadly for the aggrieved cage fighter, she isn't in.

14.30 It was Labour defectors wot won it, says Farage

By Christopher Hope in Rochester

A collapse in support for Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg at the Rochester and Strood by-election handed the UK Independence Party its second MP, Nigel Farage has said.

Mr Farage said that nearly two thirds of the votes for the winning candidate Mark Reckless came from former Labour or Liberal Democrat supporters.

Mr Farage said that 60 per cent of the party’s support in the by-election came from former Labour, Liberal Democrat or non-voters, with just 40 per cent from Tory switchers.

Mr Farage said that the party had done well in Strood, which coincidentally was in the area where former shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry allegedly mocked a house covered in England flags.

He said: “We didn’t in Rochester yesterday but where we did win was in Strood and we did that by picking up some Conservative voters and a lump of Labour voters in Strood and some non-voters.

“We won this in what traditionally has been a Labour part of the constituency and that is something that until Heywood and Middleton people understood just how powerful our message was for Labour voters.”

Mr Farage said that Labour MPs were “too scared” to defect to Ukip because of local reprisals.

He added: “I would love a Labour defector because that would reinforce the message about why we won this by-election yesterday.

“I have spoken to one or two Labour MPs and they are just too scared, they fear genuine reprisals in their own communities, because of that tribal thing, the union.”

14.00 Oh! What a lovely by-election defeat

"We got a very good result," says Michael Gove, the Chief Whip who put £50 on a Tory win. "We got a significantly better result than any commentator was expecting or predicting, we managed to take what Nigel Farage said was a 15 point UKIP lead and halve that and we did that because we had a superb candidate in Kelly Tolurst."

"Labour come third. The most dramatic thing has been the haemorrhaging of the principle opposition party. We’re the government - you expect people to take a kick against the Government in by-elections. That’s what happens."

Can the Tories win it back? YouGov thinks so.

Joe Twyman says: "I think that the size of the victory, is an indication that yes, they may be able to win in by-elections but it is then unlikely they would be able to hold it in a general election."

13.18 Holly Watt, Whitehall Editor, reports from Newport

David Cameron has defied the UK Independence Party's by-election success in a speech in Newport.

The Prime Minister said that there were no "easy answers or shortcuts to success", as the Conservatives' defeat in Rochester and Strood sunk in.

"You don't win in this world by cutting yourself off from it," said Mr Cameron, as he called for more foreign investment in Wales.

He insisted that he would maintain "a laser like focus on the things that will really deliver" as he sought to put his party's defeat by Mark Reckless, the new Ukip MP behind him.

The Prime Minister emphasised his party's commitment to openness, saying that "Wales is coming back".

"The Welsh dragon is roaring once more," he said.

Mr Cameron announced the electrification of railways in the Valley area of South Wales and a new £100million partnership between the government and Airbus.

13.14 Douglas Carswell says he is "not that interested in what the Conservative Party does or doesn't do," when pressed on whether there are more Tory defections to come.

The Tories believe the close run in Rochester is enough to stave off more defections. Ukip had been saying a 15 per cent margin would trigger more defections - they fell well, well short of that. Some senior Ukippers think the time for defections has passed, and the party's growth can and must lie in winning seats outright on its own terms.

He says Ukip can win in "dozens of seats" after taking Rochester.

"If they vote for Ukip, they get Ukip. Frankly, I think people throughout the country want change, and I think if they realise in six months’ time that they have a credible Ukip candidate, I think we’re going to see a lot of Rochester and Stroods in other parts of the country.

"Fundamentally, it’s not about immigration, fundamentally it’s not about anger and pessimism. It’s a sense that the building behind me is run by people who are in politics for themselves. The Britain today is a country where pretty much everything is run in the interests of vested interests. Politics, banking, the energy markets, they’re all run by this self-serving little clique at the top .We need a party that believes in change, in radical political reform, and in liberal values and the free market. There’s a huge niche in the market, the Labour party used to be on the idea of ordinary people.

"There is a huge gap in the market for a party that appeals to both disaffected Conservatives, but also good honest traditional socialists who realise that actually their party is the party of Emily Thornberry, not the party of ordinary people.

"We’re a party of ordinary people; we’re not professional politicians, were not people who have been training to do spin for 20 years. We’re ordinary people, we’re learning fast, when we get things wrong, we say we get things wrong, our values are what matter."

13.00 Oh, dear. Mr Dan Ware, the white van driver who shot to fame after being sneered upon by Emily Thornberry, has turned up to her large Islington townhouse to demand an apology. She has said she is happy to meet the cage-fighting car dealer. Mail Online has the story.

Today, we found out what it means to Ed Miliband, after he gave Emily Thornberry the boot.

The BBC asked: What goes through your mind when you see a white van outside a house with England flags?

Mr Miliband responded: "What goes through my mind is respect. Respect is the basic rule of politics. I'm afraid her Tweet conveyed a sense of disrespect."

"I was angry because I thought her tweet gave a misleading impressoin when she photographed the house in which the family lived that somehow Labour had the wrong view of that family. It's not the view we have of that family, Labour has never had that view of disrespect. I'm afraid her tweet conveyed a sense of disrespect."

"I go all round this country persuading people of Labour's case. There's no way any voter is unreachable for our party. I think that Emily's intentions may not have been that [to sneer] but I think she gave a misleadig impressoin that there's something unusual or bizarre about having england flags in your window.

"This is a party that was founded for working people. That's why I was angry. That's why it's right she's gone."

12.00 Lucy Powell, the latest member of the shadow cabinet and a close Ed ally, suggests Thornberry got whacked because of privacy. It is "not acceptable" for MPs to photograph people's houses and put them on the internet. She says she does not know what Thornberry meant by it. She says it was a terrible night for the Conservatives "as well".

She says Labour couldn't win the seat - held by Labour until 2010, campaigned in by Gordon Brown, because of boundary changes that make it a Tory seat. BBC Daily Politics raises an eye brow at this, as I reproduce below:

The Tories hope that by drilling down Reckless' majority from over 10,000 to 2920 they can deter other defections.

Patrick O'Flynn, the Ukip MEP, says Thornberry will help Ukip seize the Tory ultra marginal of Thurrock - where Ed Miliband's ex special adviser Polly Billington is in the race against Ukip's Tim Aker. "I don't think Polly from Islington will be very happy with Emily from Islington today," he says.

11.40 Tories take comfort in the fact that Governments lose by-elections. But Oppositions have to win them.

No Leader of the Opposition has entered Government without a net gain in by-elections, as this table shows. Miliband has gained on - Corby from the Tories - and lost one - Bradford West to George Galloway.

Opposition

Era

Gains

Losses

Net

Result

Miliband - Labour

2010-

1

1

0

TBC

Cameron - Con

2005-10

2

0

2

Hung Parliament

IDS/Howard - Con

2001-05

0

0

0

Lost

Hague - Con

1997-01

0

1

-1

Lost

Smith/Blair - Lab

1992-97

3

0

3

Won

Kinnock - Lab

1987-92

4

1

3

Lost

Kinnock - Lab

1983-87

1

1

0

Lost

Callaghan/Foot - Lab

1979-83

1

1

0

Lost

Heath/Thatcher - Con

1974-79

6

0

6

Won

Wilson - Lab

1970-74

2

2

0

Hung Parliament

Heath - Con

1966-70

12

0

12

Won

Home / Heath - Con

1964-66

1

1

0

Lost

11.30 Ed Miliband has told Sky News that Emily Thornberry's tweet displayed "disrespect to the family" and "conveyed an idea that it was wrong or unusual to fly the England flag."

A Labour source says the leader was "absolutely f---ing furious" when he learnt of the gaffe.

11.20 RECKLESS IS ADDRESSING THE COMMONS

He is speaking in favour of Clive Efford's anti-NHS privatisation bill. "My party believes in an NHS free at the point of delivery. My father is a doctor and my mother is a nurse. It is core to my values."

He says quotes from Ukippers calling for the NHS to be privatised have been "taken out of context".

Efford says he welcomes support from "all quarters for my bill." But asks why anyone should believe him - Reckless voted in favour of the 2012 Act that brought in more private involvement to the NHS. Reckless says he was mistaken and misled about the implications of the Bill, and critics were excluded.

Philip Davies, the Tory eurosceptic, congratulates him on his win.

10.35 Peter Bone, the Eurosceptic MP for Wellingborough, last night told the Cambridge Union David Cameron is more likely to defect to Ukip than him. Our man Oliver Duggan was there.

“Ladbrokes have got some odds [on the likelihood of me defecting to Ukip].

"There is somebody who is listed as 500-1, and that’s the Prime Minister. It’s my opinion that on defecting to Ukip, between me and the Prime Minister, you would be better putting your money on the Prime Minister.

“Ukip has been a really good thing for British politics and all they have to do if they want to achieve anything is come and join the Conservative Party.”

He repeated the line on Twitter today.

How much of a denial is it? Not one at all. It reminds me of Boris Johnson's well-worn line about there being a greater chance of being reincarnicated as than him becoming PM.

John Baron, who is also regarded as a likely defector, sends a statement: "The fact remains that only the Conservatives are willing and able to deliver a much-needed in/out referendum after the next General Election. The Labour and Liberal leaderships won’t, and UKIP can’t.”

David Cameron has savaged Emily Thornberry over her snooty tweet about white van man Dan Ware. She was right to resign last night, he says.

"The result was closer than the forecasters predicted," he says.

I'm more determined than ever to make sure we deliver security for Britain. Emily Thornberry is one of Ed Miliband's closest allies and aides. Effectively what this means is that Ed Miliband's Labour party sneers at people who work hard, who are patriotic and love their country. I think that's completely appalling."

The BBC's Nick Robinson describes Labour as like a by-stander watching David Cameron drive towards a wall at 100 mph, only to leap in front of the car at the last minute.

“I would say one other thing to those people – you have got elected with the help of Conservatives, who stuffed envelopes, who walked streets, who knocked on doors, who worked their guts out to get you to be a member of parliament, you have let those people down."

“We are coming for you in by-elections and we are going to throw everything we can at you.”

“I will be with you in Rochester campaigning with you. I am absolutely determined that we will take this seat.

"This guy lied to you over and over and over again. That is not the new politics, that is the old politics, we should throw him out at the by-election.”

09.35 MARK RECKLESS has been sworn in to the House of Commons, taking the oath of loyalty to Her Majesty.

He was accompanied by Douglas Carswell and the Tory Eurosceptic rebel Philip Hollobone. That will set tongues wagging.

Carswell was introduced by Zac Goldsmith, the Tory green rebel, and Sir Peter Tapsell, the father of the House.

Ladbrokes has Hollobone as the most likely next defector, at 2/1. He is the most rebellious MP this Parliament. He is hardline on Europe. He is one of three MPs to have commissioned polling identical to that of Reckless testing public opinion for a Brexit. And he's the one that scares Tory central office because he is impossible to read - he doesn't have research staff and, they say, doesn't mix much with other MPs or trade in gossip.

09.00 I've just joined Mark Reckless and Douglas Carswell at breakfast in the Commons' Terrace Canteen.

Reckless is clutching his certificate of return - that allows him to sit in the Commons. Normally the process of getting the paperwork from the local returning officer to the Commons authorities takes days - but they have cut that to just five hours with the help of couriers and the Medway Labour Party. That will mean Reckless can vote in a Labour private members' bill against NHS privatisation.

"Smile Grant!," says Carswell as they pose for a picture.

What's next? Turning votes into seats. Ukip believe they can overtake the Liberal Democrats - and Carswell wants to see a rebirth of a true Liberal party.

Carswell responds to Labour's claim voters are "angry and alienated." It's the MPs who are alienated, he says. "Just because voters stop shopping at Waitrose doesn't mean they've gone off their food."

More significantly, he warns Labour has no core vote he can rely on, and says voters feel "angry and alienated" and they must be shown deep "respect".

This is something Ukip have been saying for months - to their advantage.

"Political parties cannot take any community, any voter or any class for granted," he says. "Anybody who wants to stand for election next May has to start with a fundamental and deep respect for the voters, whom we are asking for support. In that sense, the idea you can rely on any nation, region class or community has just gone."

08.20 Britain First, the far-right successor to the BNP, won just 56 votes last night.

Nick Robinson, the BBC political editor, has admitted he made a mistake by agreeing to pose with their candidate, but insists it was an innocent error. (Broadcast stars are increasingly asked for snaps with members of the public, and many are happy to oblige.) The picture has caused a small stir on Twitter.

A beaming Nick Robinson... posing with the Britain First candidate... now thats a photo twitter should explode over pic.twitter.com/J1Xtz7fRJQ

"I had no idea who this person was. Was asked for a selfie by someone I wrongly assumed was a worker at the count. My mistake," he writes on Twitter. "I had selfies taken all day and try to be polite to all who ask."

08.15 William Hague says the Tories have pulled off a "dramatically closer result" than expected after getting within 3,000 of Reckless.

He says David Cameron is a "huge advantage" over Ed Miliband as a "respected Prime Minister". There will be no change of strategy, he says.

Nigel Farage says the incident proves Labour are "anti-English" and believe "any sense of English identity is disreputable and wrong".

Mark Reckless said in his victory speech that "the radical tradition, which has stood and spoken for the working class, has found a new home in Ukip".

"As Labour represents those comfortable at the top of the public sector, it is not Ed Miliband but Ukip that represents the concerns of most working men and women."

Chris Bryant, a shadow minister, said: "The first rule of politics is you respect the voters. Emily has said by her own admission is she hasn't lived up to that. She was absolutely wrong to tweet what she did and right to resign."

Douglas Alexander, Labour's election strategist, said there were "tough lessons" for all parties and his party had suffered a "classic by-election squeeze".

"As for Labour, listen, we were squeezed in a classic by-election squeeze. But I think if you look at this by-election, if you look at recent by-elections, you look at the European elections, there are some pretty tough lessons for all the political parties to learn.”

Mike Gapes, a Labour MP who campaigned in Rochester, warns there is "no core vote" for Labour any more. That's quite an admission; without a core vote, where is a party?

"Lessons for Labour. There is no core vote. Take the gloves off against Extremists and racists. Make patriotic case for immigration and EU."

07.55 Farage says the result renders any prediction of the 2015 General Election "irrelevent"

"The whole thing now is up in the air and very, very difficult to call," he says. "Anybody who tries to predict what will happen is wasting their time."

Hague's description of the result as a protest vote is a "comfort blanket". "Come with me and meet the people who voted Ukip yesterday. They weren't protesting. They were voting for us because they believe in us, they actually vote Ukip might change things. All the evidence is people who vote Ukip want to vote Ukip in every possible election."

07.50 WHO'S NEXT TO JUMP?

Nigel Farage says more Tory MPs are likely to defect as they conclude they have a better chance of winning under a Ukip rosette. Unlike Rochester and Clacton, the Tories won't be able to hammer their seats at the General Election. But they won't jump "today or tomorrow."

Could Adam Holloway be next? His Gravesham constituency is close to Reckless' Rochester. He's a Tory hardliner on Europe. He has been quiet for weeks. And I understand he is still in lengthy email contact with Reckless. Farage says the next defector is likely to be local. Is it Holloway? "You had better ask him" says Farage.

07.20 TORIES: WE'LL WIN IT BACK

William Hague and Grant Shapps have been on the broadcasters this morning. Their messages:

1) It's just a by-election

Hague: “I think by-elections are difficult, I know that, I won a by-election 25 years ago, it’s very unusual for the party in government to actually win a by-election, it’s very unusual. People think they can cast a protest vote, and have a free kick, as the future of the government is not on the ballot paper."

Shapps: "I think there are different circumstances in a by-election when you have MPs who have stood down it means that they have a certain following and we will fight every single day to win this seat back."

2) It's the General Election that matters

Hague says: “We can, and I believe we will, win this seat back at the general election when the future of the government is actually on the ballot paper, the whole future of the economy is at stake."

Shapps: "During the course of this campaign the gap has closed. I think we’ve ended up with about a 7% lead for Mark Reckless; they were predicting something over twice that level. So 2,900 not a big majority now to try to win back in 170 days’ time. I’m very sorry that Kelly hasn’t been elected, but with 2,900 votes in it, it certainly puts her in strong contention for the general election and we’ll be fighting very hard.”

3) It's a bad night for Ed Miliband, and if you vote Ukip you get Labour

Hague: "It was still a small majority for Ukip, a terrible result for the Labour party. We have to get the message across that Ed Miliband is trying to sneak into Downing Street on the back of a strong Ukip performance, that’s all he’s got left going for him. In a general election, people need to vote Conservative.”

Shapps: “The future of this country, the future of the Government wasn’t on the ballot paper yesterday. It will be in 170 days’ time and that means that we need to really emphasise to people the risk of doing anything other than voting Conservative.

“That is what we’ll be seeking to demonstrate for the next 170 days because the contrast isn’t Nigel Farage – even Nigel Farage doesn’t say that he’ll be walking into Downing Street – the contrast is that Ed Miliband would be Prime Minister and he would undo all that good work and leave families exposed to all the risks of Labour in government – higher unemployment, going back to the bad old days.”

4) Defections are counterproductive.

Hague: “I don’t have a crystal ball about that, we have no indication of that. I think it’s counterproductive and self-defeating when they defect, what is the way to reduce the deficit, control immigration and welfare, have a referendum on the European Union? It is to have a Conservative government after the next general election."

07.15 John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, has stuck the boot into Emily Thornberry who resigned last night after tweeting a picture of the home of Dan Ware - replete with England flags and a white van. He says:

"It's horrendous. It insults people like me, the people I know, friends and family, and Labour voters across the country. England flags and white vans are Labour values," he says. The tweet was a "juxtaposition of the white van and the Enlgand flag to indicate there is something wrong with that."

He says Ed Miliband has delivered a "step change" in his campaign to be in touch with voters, and had implemented the "Doncaster North" test. "It's quite a big moment moment that Ed Miliband has responded like this. It's a different approach from the Labour leader."

The Sun splashed on the resignation last night, with the headline ONLY HERE FOR THE SNEERS.

06.00 Reckless has won. Where now?

Ukip has its second MP. They have a 100-per-cent win rate in Tory defection by-elections. A seat once deemed 271st friendliest on a list of takeable constituencies now flies under the purple flag.

Focus will naturally turn to further defections. Nigel Farage hinted an MP "local" to Rochester and Strood may be the next to jump ship, according to Channel 4's Michael Crick. Mark Reckless gave an open plea for Tories and Labour alike to join the Ukip bandwagon in one post-win broadcast.

Reckless's majority - below the 10 percentage points some expected and the 15 points Farage predicted - may be slim enough to give some would-be rebels pause for thought. But over the coming days it would take a bold minister to match Michael Gove's declaration of 100-per-cent certainty that there will be no further defections.

For the Tories and David Cameron, the loss of a second seat in as many months to Ukip can only be chalked up as another bad night. Grant Shapps, Conservative Party Chairman, made no attempt to hide the fact that this result hampers Cameron's chances of re-election during his early morning broadcast appearances.

Labour piled on the pressure as much as possible throughout the evening. "If he has thrown the kitchen sink at it, frankly he needs a plumber," Chris Bryant said of the Prime Minister's efforts in Rochester. "He can't lead his party, how can he lead the country?"

Fallout from Rochester will focus on perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the Conservatives over the next six months - how exactly to counter the appeal of Ukip - and give a green light to backbenchers to call for a hardening of the party's stance on immigration and Europe. But Tories will also take heart that this was not a Clacton-style wipeout - as Shapps told the BBC, with a majority of less than 3,000 the Conservatives are in a "strong position" to regain the seat next May.

For Labour, the last 24 hours has been a textbook example of how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, at least as the media cycle is concerned.

Opposition MPs were all lined up for a day sitting on the sidelines and enjoying the spectacle of Conservatives tying themselves in knots trying to deal with Ukip. Instead they spent the whole night distancing themselves from Emily Thornberry's controversial tweet about a house covered in St George's flag and subsequent resignation as shadow attorney general.

On a morning Britain should be waking up to headlines of Tory defeat, "only here for the sneers" are the words visible on two million breakfast tables thanks to The Sun front-page take of the Thonrberry saga. For the Government to lose a seat six months before an election and the Opposition to be the ones with a frontbench resignation almost beggars belief.

As for the Liberal Democrats, a single figure sums up their night - 0.87. That was the party's vote percentage last night. Not even one in 100 people decided to vote for Nick Clegg's party. In 2010, 7,800 people backed them in Rochester; last night it was 349.

Put another way: When the Official Monster Raving Loony Party - whose candidate spent most of the night handing out bananas in a funny hat - gets almost half as many votes as you, it is somewhat harder to claim you're a long-term "party of government".

04.40 'If you vote Ukip, you get Ukip," says Reckless

In his acceptance speech, Reckless said: "If we can win here, we can win across the country. If you vote Ukip, you get Ukip."

Reckless said his victory had proved that Ukip could win nationwide and urged voters to ensure enough MPs were elected to hold the balance of power after 2015.

"Whichever constituency, whatever your former party allegiance, think of what it would mean to have a bloc of Ukip MPs at Westminster large enough to hold the balance of power," he said.

"If you believe in freedom, if you believe in low taxes, if you believe in clean government, if you believe in localism, if you believe in people power. If you believe that the world is bigger than Europe, if you believe in an independent Britain, then come with us and we will give you back your country."

The MP sought to put behind him a controversy over his apparent suggestion that existing EU migrants could be forced to leave the UK if it pulled out of Europe.

He insisted that he had enjoyed "more than a dash of support from people who came here from other EU states".

"They are now here as part of our community and they will always be welcome," he added."If Ukip is to win nationwide - and we have proved tonight that we can - it must do so on that basis. We most be a party that speaks to and for the whole nation and everyone who lives within it."

04.21 Reckless won by 2,920 votes in the end - a lead of around 8 percentage points

The breakdown of votes...

Ukip 16,867 Con 13,947Lab 6,713Green 1,692Lib Dem 349

04.20 MARK RECKLESS WINS ROCHESTER AND STROOD BY-ELECTION

04.00 Farage hints another Tory MP is ready to jump

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Michael Crick - Nigel Farage hints that an MP "local" to Rochester and Strood may be the next defector they recruit&lt;/noframe&gt;

03.55 RESULT EXPECTED IN 10 MINUTES

03.45 No sign of a result yet - but it could be soon

At the start of the night we were hoping for a result between 3am and 4am. Now it's looking like 4am.

Rumours have been leaking out all night about Ukip's possible lead - recent predictions from political reporters appearing on BBC and Sky have put Ukip somewhere around 17,000, Tories around 14,000, with Labour well behind that. Of course those are simply whispers, so to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Michael Crick - Ukip would have to get 23,966 votes tonight to beat record percentage for Ukip in Clacton of 59.75%. That won't happen.&lt;/noframe&gt;

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Michael Crick - If Lib Dems get under 549 votes they will break all-time record low vote for a main party in any Westminster election - 1.367% in Clacton&lt;/noframe&gt;

03.15 Tory candidate refuses to conceed defeat

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Christopher Hope - Latest rumour: the LibDems could be as low as 5th place, behind the Greens with only a couple of hundred votes. Disaster &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&amp;q=%23rochesterandstrood" target="_blank"&gt;#rochesterandstrood&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Christopher Hope - Kelly Tolhurst arrives at the count. She has NOT admitted defeat. Counting still ongoing in the &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&amp;q=%23rochesterandstrood" target="_blank"&gt;#rochesterandstrood&lt;/a&gt; by-election&lt;/noframe&gt;

"If little Ukip, in this David v Goliath battle, is able to beat the governing party of the day, it will be a massive, massive victory. I would have thought the prime minister having put so much into this,and then having spent so much money - not of course more than the legal limit, I’m sure - I would think it’s pretty bad news for the prime minister."

02.50 Farage asked if he was "jealous" of Mark Reckless's attention

Here's the look he gave the questioner. Farage said he had spent 20 years of his adult life campaigning for Ukip and was enjoying their success.

A follow-up question of whether he was confident of being the next Ukip candidate elected to Westminster went unanswered.

02.45 Farage: Ukip has replaced the Lib Dems as the third party of British politics

Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent, got a word with Farage during amidst the scrum of media activity: Arriving at the count Nigel Farage expanded on an interview he gave me on Thursday lunchtime in a pub near Rochester, saying that the UK Independence Party is now the third party in UK politics.

He said: “Nick Clegg said he wanted to have a proper three-party system in British politics and I suspect that given the Lib Dems are now on 1 per cent it is three-party politics – without the Lib Dems.”

He refused to say that Ukip had won, saying: “It is not over til the fat lady sings” and attacked what he said were negative tactics deployed by the Conservatives. Kelly Tolhurst, the Tory candidate, has also arrived – and refused to concede defeat.

02.40 NIGEL FARAGE ARRIVES

In a blitz of camera flashes and probing questions from hacks, the Ukip leader has arrived.

Farage described the battle in Rochester as a "David vs Goliath" battle which would be a "massive massive victory" for Ukip if they won.

"All bets are off for the general election next year [if we win here]. Literally anything can happen," Farage said.

He also said the Conservatives made David Cameron the pin-up of the campaign and warned a defeat in Rochester would be "pretty bad news" for the Prime Minister.

Chris Bryant has been quizzed again about Ms Thornberry now infamous tweet on BBC One's This Week: "My heart sank when I saw it. The first rule of politics is surely you respect the voters and by Emily's own admission she didn't do that ... She'll be beating herself up more that anyone else will."

He also had this neat line on David Cameron: "If he has thrown the kitchen sink at it, frankly he needs a plumber ... His leadership's on the line, he can't lead his party, how can he lead the co country?"

02.20 It's not all about the main parties

One of the joys of British by-elections is the myriad of other candidates who toss their hats into the ring.

Two particulalry colourful characters are enjoying their 15-minutes in the spotlight currently, as broadcasters twiddle their thumbs and try to fill time.

First, here's 'Hairy Knorm' Davidson, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate, and his band of activists. They've taken to distributing bananas to liven up proceedings.

Next, here's Santa - or rather Mike Barker, an independent candidate.

On Twitter he describes himself as a "world leading scientist and expert in terrorist, conventional and terrorist nuclear bomb disposal", adding that he wants to "end nuclear weapons".

If the "world leading scientist" gig ever comes to an end, I think we can all agree there's fruitful earnings to be made in Santa's grotto work for Mr Barker,

With word spreading that we could have to wait until after 4am to get a result, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party has turned to cheering people up ... by handing out bananas.

Tom Rowley reports: The Loony candidate, 'Hairy Knorm', has just given 'Santa Claus' a banana.

No, this is not some sort of code, but the marvellously mad lingua of by-elections.

There are nine 'Other' candidates standing tonight, alongside the main contenders, including a representative of the Patriotic Socialist Party and a former sex worker.

Hairy Knorm, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party's candidate in Rochester, gives man dressed as Santa a banana at the central count

01.55 Proof of the rise of Ukip

Here's an interesting graphic, courtesy of BBC One's This Week, revealing Ukip's improvement in by-election vote share since the last election. Spot the trend...

(Via the BBC)

01.28 Reckless will win by 3,000 votes, YouGov predicts

Peter Kellner, President of YouGov, has predicted that Ukip will definitely win the by-election in Rochester.

Mr Kellner said Reckless's majority could be around 3,000, adding "It's a comfortable but not an enormous victory".

01.20 Man of the moment Mark Reckless arrives at count

"Looking forward to the counting and hearing the result," says Mark Reckless to shouts from journalists as he arrives at the count hand-in-hand with his wife.

"The people of Rochester and Strood have had their say ... We take nothing for granted."

01.15 Just over one in two people voted in Rochester by-election

Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent, has an update from the count: After nearly three hours the verification of the count has finished. The turnout at the Rochester and Strood by-election is 50.6 per cent, down from 65 per cent at the 2010 general election. That is 40,113 votes cast. It is going to be a very long night.

UK Independence Party sources are quietly optimistic, saying here in the counting hall that they are expecting Ukip to have won the by election with a 3 per cent to 5 per cent majority, or around 1,500 seats. Conservative sources say the by-election will be “tight”. The Rochester and Strood by-election is not in the bag yet for Nigel Farage, but it is looking promising for them.

01.00 Some more photos from the count. Result expected between 3am and 4am.

"Saying that Emily Thornberry in any way was sneering I think was wrong. She was ill-judged, it was a misjudgementon on her part. I think on reflection she probably would regret tweeting that out," he said.

Coaker added: "Emily did the right thing with respect to the tweet. She resigned because she didnt want to be the story."

00.26 Mark Reckless does not support repatriation of immigrants, according to Douglas Carswell

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: PoliticsHome - Ukip's Douglas Carswell insists that Mark Reckless "absolutely does not argue that there should be repatriation" and it was a "clumsy reply"&lt;/noframe&gt;

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: PoliticsHome - Douglas Carswell says there will be "mass defections" of voters on the left and right to Ukip in the general election. &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&amp;q=%23bbcqt" target="_blank"&gt;#bbcqt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

00.15 Alan Johnson defends Thornberry

Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary and favourite of Labour MPs disgruntled by Ed Miliband's leadership, has publicly defended Thornberry.

"Emily Thornberry comes from a very poor background" he told BBC One's This Week after she stepped down over a controversial tweet. "She is not a stranger to council housing, it's where she comes from."

He added: "It doesn’t sound to me like a resignation scandal."

00.10 The counting begins

A ballot box is emptied for an official to count ballots for the by-election at Medway Park in Gillingham, southeast England

00.01 We haven't lost yet, says Iain Duncan Smith

Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has declined to accept defeat despite Tory sources suggesting they had no hope of winning, insisting he thinks the Conservative vote was "holding up pretty well actually".

"We have fought it. We want to win it. We don't know what the result is going to be. We will wait and see what happens. I wouldn't count chickens before they have definitely hatched," he told Sky News.

He insisted the vote was "not about the general election", which would be a fight between the Conservatives and Labour, and accused Ms Thornberry of "sneering at the electorate of Rochester".

"It seems the Labour Party doesn't even respect the people they expect to vote for them now," he said.

23.45 Peter Bone says David Cameron is more likely to defect to Ukip than him

Peter Bone, Tory backbencher and frequent rebel against the Government whip, has been speaking out for Ukip amid rumours he could be the next to jump ship to join Nigel Farage.

Our reporter Oliver Duggan attended Mr Bone's appearance at Cambridge Union, where he was speaking in favour of the debate motion 'Ukip has been good for British politics', and picked up on some eyebrow-raising comments.

Oliver reports: Speaking as the Tories looked set to lose a by-election in Rochester and Strood to the right-wing party, Mr Bone said: “Ukip have captured an idea and I would say its on more than one issue.

"The thing that has inspired people to go and vote for Ukip is their policy on immigration. People want to see controlled immigration from the EU, they want to see the borders controlled. That by a country mile is the biggest issue in my constituency.

“People know that unless something is done in Westminster we will have to come out of the EU if we are going to control our own borders. The issue that is worrying people is immigration and the only people with a clear policy up to now on this issue is Ukip.”

Rebuffing rumours that he could be next to defect, Mr Bone added: “Ladbrokes have got some odds [on the likelihood of me defecting to Ukip].

"There is somebody who is listed as 500-1, and that’s the Prime Minister. It’s my opinion that on defecting to Ukip, between me and the Prime Minister, you would be better putting your money on the Prime Minister.

“Ukip has been a really good thing for British politics and all they have to do if they want to achieve anything is come and join the Conservative Party.”

Mr Bone said Nigel Farage’s party had ensured a greater turnout at the 2015 General Election. “I guarantee the average turnout at next year’s General Election will be far greater than that of 65 percent at the last General Election. There is a whole range of voters who have been turned off by the three main parties who will vote at the next General Election because of the rise of Ukip.”

23.30 Too many tweets...

Tom Rowley has some words of warning for politicians after Thornberry stood down over a tweet.

He reports: And so it was Twitter, not the voters of Rochester and Strood, that drew the first blood.

Illustrating the rapidity with which a misjudgement morphs into a spat and then a resigning offence on the social network, Emily Thornberry stood down just seven hours and four minutes after her initial tweet.

Regardless of tonight's result, this contest has already provided an intriguing curtain-raiser for next year's general election - many MPs weren't even on Twitter in 2010. Tweet quickly, regret at leisure: this is going to be brutal.

23.25 Tristram Hunt expresses sadness at Thornberry's departure

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has told BBC2's Newsnight: "I think it's very sad to lose a trusted and good colleague in the run-up to a general election.

"But we should also be very clear that we are hugely in favour in the Labour Party of people expressing pride in their national identity and national symbols."

He reports: Ed Miliband has sacked a Labour front-bencher after she was accused of holding working-class voters in "contempt" by appearing to mock a family's terrace home draped in England flags.

Labour was plunged into crisis on the day of a by-election in Rochester and Strood after Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, tweeted an image of the home accompanied by the caption “image from #Rochester”.

Ms Thornberry, who lives in a £3 million home in Islington, North London, told The Telegraph she thought that the image was “remarkable” because she had never seen a house “completely covered in flags before”.

Mr Miliband, who was reportedly "angrier than he has ever been", held two conversations with Ms Thornberry before sacking her.

Ms Thornberry's comments were hugely damaging for Labour on a day which the party had hoped would draw attention to the woes of the Conservative Party at the hands of Ukip.

Labour was expected to win less than 10 per cent of the vote in Rochester and Strood, a seat it held as recently as 2010 before boundaries were changed.

Ms Thornberry's tweet led to an immediate backlash from the public and even members of her own party, who accused her of being "derogatory and dismissive of people".

Her attempts to explain her comments only exacerbated the situation. She told The Telegraph: “My point is that it’s a remarkable image of a house completely covered in flags. I grew up on a council estate and I have never seen a house completely covered in flags before. There’s three of them.”

She subsequently fuelled the anger by claiming that she had been the victim of a "prejudice" against people from Islington, where she is an MP.

23.20 The Sun's splash tomorrow - released just before Thornberry resigned. A contributing factor?

23.00 Chris Bryant admits Thornberry tweet was an "own goal"

Chris Bryant, Labour's shadow work and pensions minister, has said Emily Thornberry got it wrong with her controverisal tweet and was right to go.

"Emily, by her own admission, [knows] it's been a bit of an own goal today. She's done the right thing to apologise and done the right thing to resign," he told BBC News.

Mr Bryant also told Sky News: "If someone came to my constituency and did that I would be absolutely spitting with fury."

22.45 Tom Watson finds some St George's flags

With curious timing, Labour MP Tom Watson - the party's former deputy chair - has found some old St George's flags...

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: tom_watson - Just been digging through my old leaflets. Found this from ten years ago. &lt;a href="http://t.co/KzefKFbEdu" target="_blank"&gt;http://t.co/KzefKFbEdu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: tom_watson - We like our St George's flags in my neck of the woods. Last one for tonight. &lt;a href="http://t.co/J7HLGy4ZS2" target="_blank"&gt;http://t.co/J7HLGy4ZS2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

22.30 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Man who lives at house in Thornberry tweet hits back

Chris Hope, the Telegraph's senior political correspondent currently in Rochester, tracked down the house tweeted about by Ms Thornberry - who has just resigned - earlier today. Dan Ware criticised the (now former) Labour frontbencher about her comments and also posed for a picture.

Chris writes: Mr Ware, 36, a father of four who works in the motor trade and property maintenance, said the flags had been on his house since the World Cup.

He said that he had voted Conservative at the 2010 election but "I don't know why", and had no idea there was a by-election in Rochester and Strood that evening.

Asked about how he felt about Miss Thornberry's Tweet, he said: "She is a snob - what has she got a three storey townhouse in Islington?"

Mr Ware who has lived in Rochester for 15 years said he was upset that his van's licence plate had been put on the internet, saying it was a "privacy thing".

He said: "The picture shouldn't be took. She should ask first because the registration number is in the picture.

"I will continue to fly the flags - I don't care who it pisses off. I know there is a lot of ethnic minorities that don't like it. They have been up since the World Cup."

He said he did not like Labour's views, but was not political.

Dan Ware, 36, lives in the house featured in Emily Thornberry's controversial tweet

22.20 EMILY THORNBERRY RESIGNS FROM SHADOW CABINET

Emily Thornberry has stepped down as the shadow attorney general. It follows an angry reaction to a picture she tweeted from Rochester earlier today.

"Earlier today I sent a tweet which has caused offence to some people. That was never my intention and I have apologised," Ms Thornberry said in a statement released by the party.

"However I will not let anything distract from Labour's chance to win the coming general election. I have therefore tonight told Ed Miliband I will resign from the shadow cabinet."

As the ballot papers are rushed to the central count at a sports hall in Gillingham, it's worth considering for a moment what is at stake for the political parties here tonight.

For Ukip, the implications are most obvious - win and they will have a second 'fox inside the hen coop' at Westminster and can boast a 100 per cent success rate in re-electing Tory defectors.

While Nigel Farage has not made the same "Krakatoa" predictions that accompanied Douglas Carswell's re-election last month - becoming Ukip's first MP - he has said victory in Rochester would prove the party can finish third at the general election next May. Victory in a seat placed 271st on a list of constituencies friendliest to Ukip's appeal would back up that claim.

Plus there is the chance of more defections. Two Tory MPs are said to be toying with a switch (according to Mark Reckless). A massive win here could be just the incentive they need to take the plunge.

For the Conservatives, the prospects look bleak. No governing party wants to lose a by-election, but shedding a second seat in as many months to a party whose appeal could prove fatal to David Cameron's hopes of re-election will unsettle his backbenches.

At Tory conference, Conservative MPs were in fighting spirit when Reckless tried to spoil the party with his defection announcement. Publicly they attacked his duplicity - Reckless "lied and lied and lied again", said Grant Shapps, Tory party chairman - while privately they pledged to do all they could to ensure his defeat.

However as the weeks passed, rhetoric changed from 'yes we can' to 'no we can't, but we can keep it close' as polls predicted Ukip winning the seat by double figures. While Ed Miliband's recent woes are likely to diminish the scale of backlash against the leadership, defeat could trigger a bumpy few days for the PM.

As for Labour, they have reportedly been happy to sit back and let Ukip and the Conservatives slug it out. However it's not all positive for the party.

Labour held the seat of Medway - which was renamed Rochester and Strood with new boundaries in 2010 - for 13 years before it fell to the Tories at the last election. Failing to make inroads in an area which was red throughout the New Labour years won't bode well.

Plus there's the controversy triggered by Emily Thornberry tweet of a house draped in St George's flags - a political shot to the foot if ever there was one.

And then there's the Lib Dems, who could finish with less than three per cent of the vote. Another bleak night for them looks a certainty.

22.00 POLLS CLOSE

Voting is over, the polls have closed and the people of Rochester and Strood have elected a new MP. Or re-elected their old MP under a new banner. Or confounded predictions and plumped for one of the main political parties. Who knows?

The Telegraph will be reporting all tonight's twists and turns right through to the result, expected to be announced at between 3 and 4 a.m. Get in touch via email at ben.riley-smith@telegraph.co.uk or tweet your thoughts at @benrileysmith.

21.00 Ground zero for tonight's by-election battle

Tom Rowley has touched down at the count and provided the below pic of where Mark Reckless hopes to be delivering a victory speech tomorrow morning.

I've arrived at a vast sports hall in Gillingham, where tonight's count will be held. Stay awake for another six or so hours and you will see the new MP for Rochester and Strood (possibly simultaneously the old MP for Rochester and Strood) take this podium. Officials are beginning to take their places to count the votes but the polls remain open until 10pm.

Labour MP Emily Thornberry has been wandering around Rochester and Strood on the day of the by-election and sent out this tweet. Apparently she thought it noteworthy that a resident has a white van and a St George’s flag in his window. Or perhaps she just hates West Ham United.

Now, I’m not saying that Labour is officially run by metropolitan liberals who raise their little pinkies when drinking high tea in Islington coffee shops while discussing how awful working-class men are with Grayson Perry but, well, as Grayson knows – a picture paints a thousand words...

19.30 Polling day - in pictures

Mark Reckless votes with his wife this morning

Tory Kelly Tolhurst votes with with her family

Mark Reckless enjoys an orange juice with Nigel Farage. He has not drunk since a disastrous night in the Commons bar, when he missed a crucial vote after a night of heavy drinking.

Michael Deacon sends this dispatch.

An aide had slipped quietly over to the pub jukebox and selected a song synonymous with a previous earthquake in British politics. Specifically, New Labour's election win in 1997. "Thiiiiings," came the voice of D:ream's Peter Cunnah, "can only get bet-terrrrrr..."

Mr Farage quacked with laughter. "Where's John Prescott when you need him!" he shouted. And then, elbows out, hips swinging, he began to jig.

The time was 2.30pm. He was two pints in.

It was polling day in Rochester and Strood, and Ukip were confident of victory. Their candidate, Mark Reckless - the Kent constituency's Conservative MP until his defection two months ago - had joined his new party's leader for sandwiches at a Ukip-supporting pub. (Ukip posters were in every window; Ukip beer mats were on every table. Only Ukip, the beer mats proclaimed, could save British pubs. Given Mr Farage's drinking habits, this sounds like a pledge they're well on course to honour.)

"Ukip’s candidate here, a bald and bespectacled Oxford-trained economist who has an MBA from Columbia, is no one’s idea of a working man’s hero."

They add: "ROCHESTER, England — It would be hard to find a place more quintessentially British than Rochester, a handsome river town framed by a spectacularly ancient castle and cathedral. Charles Dickens called the area home and often depicted Rochester’s picturesque main shopping street in his novels.

"It’s not just the look of the place, either. Economically, demographically and politically, Rochester closely mirrors the rest of Britain.

"And yet, on Thursday, voters here are poised to do something that would have seemed radical just months ago: elect a member of the U.K. Independence Party to represent them in Parliament."